Slat-edging machine



Dec. 23, 1930. J. .1. SYLVA I SLAT EDGING MACHINE .4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 9, 1928 INVENTOR c]- c! Sylva,

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Dec. 23, 1930. J. J. SYLVA SLAT EDGING MAcHlnE 4 Shets-Sheet 2 Filed April 9! n no nn'ns INVENTOR cldsylva,

INVENTOR IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I ATTORNEY J. J. sYLVA SLAT EDGING mcnnm Filed April 9. 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Iii, I? n! 2 I. ,ZZ

Dec. 23, 1930.

' IIIIIIIIIIIIIl/lfl/ I I I I I I I 1 I 0 V I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I II/IIII/I/IIIIII/l/ Dec. 23, 1930. J. J. SYLVA SLAT EDGING HACBINE Filed April 9, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 w l W w m d.

Patented Dec. 23, 1930 UFFFTIEJ) STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN J. SYLVA, F STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO CALIFORNIA CEDAR PRODUTTIS COMPANY, OF STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION SLAT-EDGING MACHINE Application filed A rna This invention relates to wood working machinery, and particularly to a machine for trimming the edges of slats from which penoils are made; the present machine representing improvements over the structure shown in the Patent No. 1,705,808 granted to O. F. Chichester and myself March 19, 1929.

In preparing slats for pencil manufacturers, the slats are first sawed roughly to the proper thickness, length and width. It'has then been previously necessary to individually sort the slats, stacking the relatively wide ones in one pile, the narrower ones in other piles, etc, which piles are then separate 1y run through the edging machine above mentioned which had to be reset for each widthof slat to be edged. It was also necessary in sorting theslats, either before or after the edging operation, to temporarily eliminate all having defects at or adjacent one edge, or knots in the wood adjacent such edge. These slats were then either discarded or run separately through the edger to eliminate the defective edges or knotted portions.

These operations'required the services of a large number of sorters consumed considerable time both :in labor and machine operations, and entailed a considerable loss of material in the aggregate.

The principalobjects of the present invention are to provide an edging machine so arranged that a number of slats of different widths may be cutv simultaneously without any adjustments being necessary; which enables the slats of all initial widths to be handled and sorted in the machine and placed therein so that slats of the maximum possible width will be obtained; while at the same timeproviding means to enable the different slats to be so placed in the machine that the.

defectiveportions of any of such slats may be cut off 'to thus utilize the good straight grain portions offall the slats without waste and without the necessity of separate sorting operations. 'beingresorted to. As a result. of the use of .my improved edging machine, therefore,actual edging operations are speeded up,

7 sorting operations are reduced to a minimum and the employment of a large number of sorters is eliminated.

192s. Serial No. 268,466. r

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of.

such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views: 7

Fig. 1 is a side elevationof my improved edging machine somewhat foreshortened.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan View of the machine partly broken out.

Fig. 8 is a transverse section of the sorting slots or runways taken on theline 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a similar view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a similar view taken on the line 66 of Fig. 2.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, the machine comprises a plurality of long horizontally and transversely spaced bars 1 supported at intervals by cross members 2 which in turn are supported by legs 3.v Disposed= directly above and in spaced relation to the bars 1 are other bars 4 which are supported from cross bars 5 above thesame, said bars 5 also being supported by the legs 3. Spacers 6 between the bars 5 and a maintain the bars 5 some distance above the upper edges of the bars 4.

Continuous bottom plates 7 are placed between the adjacent pairs of bars lat varying distances below the bars 4, so as to form a number of longslots 8 of different depths, the depth of any slot beingthe same fromend to end. 7

A relatively large horizontal circular saw 9extends across all the slots :just above the bars 'toward one end thereof, the saw being disposed so that one peripheral edge extends just beyond the shallowest slot 8 (which is at one side of the machine), the central shaft 10 of the saw being beyond the opposite side bar 1. It will therefore be seen that the slots formrunways forthe slats and the slats placed in different slots and moved toward the saw, will be edged by said saw regardless of their initial height or width so that the finished width of the slats will be equal to the depth of the different slots in which the slats are placed, figuring such depth as being from the bottom plates to the upper edges of the bars 4. These depths are such that the finished slats will have widths suiiicient to form a predetermined number of pencil halves.

The slats are moved toward the saw by means of endless chains 11 disposed to the sides of the slots and passing about sprockets 12 at the ends thereof. These chains are inclosed from the outside over the greater portion of the length by side members la mounted outwardly of the bars 1 and supported by the legs 3. Extending between the chains at intervals and passing through the spaces between the bars 1 and at (which spaces extend from end to end of the bars) are cross rods 13 which engage the edges of the slats disposed in the slots and act as pushers for said slats, the upper runs of the chains of course moving toward the saw.

Adjacent and just ahead of the saw, presser members are arranged above the various slots to engage the slats moving toward the saw and hold them firmly against the floor plates. In all but the shallowest slot these members are in the form of relatively strong horizontal spring strips 14 sloping downwardly toward the saw from the adjacent cross bar 5, to which said strips are fixed at that end. lVith and under the strips 14 are other and relatively weak spring strips 15, also adapted to bear against the upper edges of the slats rearwardly of the point of engagement of the springs 14 therewith. For the shallowest slot the presser is in the form of a vertical roller 16 mounted on a strong spring strip 17 which extends and is secured to the adjacent bar 0. A relatively light spring strip 18 depends from the strip 17 intermediate the bar and the roller.

Lateral presser members are also employed to press the slats in the slots against the side faces thereof in the direction of rotation of the saw. For all but the shallowest groove such lateral presser members comprise longitudinally extending spring strips 19 mounted below the chain rods. For the shallowest groove, however, the latter presser members consist of a pair of horizontal longitudinal spaced rollers 20 disposed just above the plane of the saw and mounted on the spring strips 21 disposed outside the outer side bar 1. As shown in Figs. 4 and 6, these rollers are above the bar 4, the rearmost one only having to project through a slot cut in the adjacent spacer 6. The foremost roller is preferably directly in vertical alinelnent with the roller 16. In addition leaf spring strips 22 extend across said slot just under and beyond the point of engagement of the saw with the slats in said slot. The reason for this special arrangement of the presser members in the shallowest slot is that the slats therein are apt to initially project to a greater height above the plane of the saw than in the other slots, as will be seen later, and the must therefore be more rigidly held while being advanced against the saw.

The edged slats beyond the saw pass in segregated order onto a conveyor belt 23, which is provided with longitudinal partitions 2 1 thereabove to form runways alined with the slots 8. From this belt the slats of H different widths may be removed in any suitable manner for packing or further handling.

The saw is covered by a housing 25 having on one side of the machine an opening 26 below and to one side of the saw which is connected with a chute 27. A deflector 28 is mounted in the housing just above the saw and is positioned and arranged to cause the wood cut from the slats to be diverted into the opening, where it drops into the chute to be carried away from the vicinity of the maclfiine to be then burnt or otherwise disposed o In operation the slats 29 to be edged are placed on a table 30 which is mounted in connection with the machine to one side of the same. These slats are apt to be of somewhat varying widths and also to have defective edges, knots, and other features which must be eliminated at this time so that the slats when edged will be in a perfect condition for their purpose. The depth of the various slots from the bottom plates to the top surface of the bars 4, determines the width of the slats when edged, since the saw is disposed imme diately above the top of these bars as previously stated. Also these depths are proportioned so that the various finished slats may be subsequently cut into a predetermined number of pencil halves. The sorter stationed alongside the table then places the slats in the different slots, and with the longitudinal edges horizontally, sorting the slats while so doing so as to obtain the greatest width possible while eliminating any defects. The perfeet slats, for instance, are placed in that slot Whose depth is such that only a minimum portion will project above the top of the gage bars 4;.

Slats having defects adjacent one edge are placed in that slot whose depth is such that the defective portion will project above the gage bar with the least possible portion of good wood also projecting thereabove, so that that portion will be removed when the slot is engaged by the saw. In this manner all the slats regardless of their initial. width and defects will be trimmed down with the minimum waste so that the finished slats are all in perfect condition and of proper widths for their purpose as above stated. While at first an inexperienced sorter will have to try the slats in different slots before finally placing them in the ones in which the least waste will be obtained, it does not take long for a sorter of any ability to gage the slats more or less by eye, so that they may then be placed more or less unfailingly in the slots of the proper depth without hesitancy and loss of time. After these slats are placed in the slots the chain rods engage and move them toward the saw, the spacing between the rods being suflicient so that the slats do not have to be placed with any great accuracy. The slots are wide enough to take three or four slats at a time at any one point, so as to en able the slots from end to end to accommodate a considerable number of slats at one time.

The special form of presser members used in connection with the shallowest slot are necessary for the reason that while the distance from the bottom of this slot to the saw is less than that of the other slots, the slats themselves are apt to initially project above the saw to a greater extent than any other slot, and greater pressure is therefore necessary to hold the slats firmly in place when being engaged by the saw as previously intimated. This is because slats of all initial widths, from the greatest to the least, may be placed in this slot indiscriminately during the sorting and edging operations.

The least, because they are too small to project above the gage bar of any other slot. The greatest, because knots and the like in the slats may necessitate a relatively great portion being cut off in order to utilize nothing but the good grain wood. WVhen slats of difierent widths are bunched together between adjacent chain rods, the vertical roller 16 will only engage the widest slat as will be evident. The lateral rollers 20, however, engaging the outermost slats press all the slats firmly together so that the pressure of the vertical roller on the widest slat causes all the slats to be firmly held down against the floor of the slot. The saw therefore engages all the slats evenly and edges them to the same extent.

In order to allow the saw to properly clear the slats in all the slots as said slats pass un; der the saw, the latter is set with a slight longitudinal tilt from front to back. This feature is especially necessary in connection with the slats which pass under the saw a considerable distance from the outer edge thereof, since it provides that the slats after being cut will not bear against the surface of the saw while moving toward the opposite edge thereof. The cross bars '5 which support the gage bars are of course disposed a stiflicient height above the slots to enable the slats of any width and in any slot passing freely thereunder.

rality of separate slots of different depths, to

The motive power which drives the saw and chain feeding means may obviously be of any desired character, and being capable of wide variation in arrangement, it has not been thought necessary to describe the same.

In the present instance, the saw 18 shown as being connected directly to an electric motor,

while the chains 11 are driven by any suitable connections from a preferably separate source of power.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A slat edging machine including a plureceive slats therein initially projecting above the tops of the slots, said slots being formed by lower side bars, upper gage bars transversely alined therewith and spaced therefrom and flooring plates between the side bars at different levels in the respective slots," endless elements disposed to the sides of the slot structure, cross members secured to the elements at intervals and extending across all the slots in the space between the upper and lower side bars, and a horizontal saw extending across the slots above the upper bars and toward which the upper runs of the elements are adapted to move.

2. A slat edging machine including a plumembers extending across all the slots to simultaneously engage the back edges of all the slats intermediate their top and bottom edges.

3. A slat edging machine including a plurality of slots to receive slats therein, means for engaging the back edges of all the slats in the different slots simultaneously to positively feed them in one direction and at a common speed, and a horizontal circular saw 120 extending across the slots in the path of move ment of the slats and positioned to cut off the upper portions of the slats, the axis of the saw being disposed to one side of the slot structure.

4:. A slat edging machine including a plu I rality of slots of different depths to receive slats therein, a saw associated with the slots to cut off the portions of all the slats in the rahty of slots to receive slats therein, a saw different slots which project above the saw,

and means for positively engaging the slats in all the slots simultaneously and feeding them at a common speed toward the saw.

5. A slat edging machine including a slot to receive a row of slats therein, a saw projecting across the slot to cut off the portions of the slats which project above the saw, and means for feeding the slats toward the saw including members extending across the slot to engage the back edges of the slats intermediate their top and bottom edges.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature.

JOHN J. SYLVA. 

